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Montana Mustangs has been nominated for PARANORMAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE BOOK OF THE YEAR!! And I need your help!!

Dear Friends- I’m excited to announce that my novel, Montana Mustangs, has been nominated by the Paranormal Romance Guild for PARANORMAL ROMANTIC SUSPENSE OF THE YEAR!
To win this highly coveted award, I am asking that my fans vote each day through January 13, 2014 (You can vote by clicking here)!
As always, I want to thank my wonderful, loyal fans. I love receiving your many notes and cards. Your kind words and support are truly amazing!
Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Thank you, Danica Winters *I know many of you have fallen in love with Montana Mustangs, but for those of you who have yet to check it out, you can find it on all retail sites including Amazon. It will also be available in paperback soon!

Thank you for your help!!

If you are interested in joining my mailing list (I send out postcards when there are new releases) you can sign up here!

I’m proud to announce that my next novel in the Nymph Series, Winter Swans, has been released!I couldn’t be more excited. I know you are going to love this book!

I had so much fun writing this–including a trip to a casino and several nights spent playing poker (just so I could get into character, I swear)! This book is a unique light paranormal romance* that doesn’t follow the cliché tropes of romance and instead merges with the world of high-stakes poker and the underbelly of Las Vegas. If you like the Italian Job, or any mob movie, you will enjoy this book. I tried to create a novel that would not only become a favorite to any romance reader, but to anyone who loves quick, witty, and out-of-the-box fiction!

*What do I mean by light paranormal romance?

That is a great question and will likely get it’s own post, but simply I like to novels that delve into the paranormal/magical world while still staying planted in reality. I want you to read the book and believe that even thought nymphs are mythological creatures, they are just like the girl next door, your friend, or your sister. Nymphs are just like the rest of us! And who knows, maybe they ARE real!

Here is a quick peek into Winter Swans:

Excerpt:

Chapter One

The chapel of the funeral home was filled with familiar faces, each one drawn into a somber expression as they wandered past Harper Cygnini’s sister’s casket. A blonde nymph laid a single crystal swan inside the box, carefully placing the bird by the hundreds of others. The bird sat with its wings touching those next to it, looking as if they would come alive and fly Jenna to the realm of the gods.

Harper stepped to the head of the casket and shook hands as people passed by, never looking her in the eyes. There were no words to express the sadness which filled the room. This didn’t happen. Nymphs rarely died.

She dabbed at her stinging eyes. She had cried so much in the last week it came as a shock to her there were any tears left to be shed. Her heart wasn’t merely broken—no, the pain ran much deeper—it was almost as if she had died as well. Maybe she should have—the gods knew she deserved to be struck down. If she had just been more involved with her sister, if she had paid more attention, perhaps this would have never happened. She could have stopped her sister from being kidnapped. She would have noticed that Jenna had been missing. Instead Harper had merely gotten the call that Jenna’s body had been found frozen in a snow bank on some mountain.

The only comfort she could find was the men responsible had been incarcerated and awaited trial in Montana. They would pay for their atrocious crimes.

The only man in the room, Beau Morris, sat next to his fiancé, Ariadne Papadakis, the leader of the Sisterhood of Epione. Ariadne, noticing Harper’s gaze, dipped her head in a humble tribute to Jenna. Harper recognized a few of the other women within the room as mustang, snake, and swan-shifters. It was easy to tell them from the non-supernatural attendees as, even in mourning, the nymphs were perfectly beautiful—unscathed by time and the ravages of living.

The same couldn’t be said of Harper, but she didn’t care. She glanced down at her black dress. She couldn’t remember putting it on or doing her hair, but what did it matter? Even as a demigod life was short and filled with pain. What difference did her appearance really make—it was like so many other unimportant things that both humans and nymphs seemed to deem worthwhile. She couldn’t strike the impious thought that life was only some god’s sick joke—they merely sat up in the heavens playing around with everyone’s lives, striking down those who displeased them and testing to see how much pain those that remained could withstand.

A hand touched her shoulder, making her jerk to attention.

“Harper?” a redheaded woman asked. She was beautiful and clearly a nymph, but she didn’t have the same youthful, healthy glow of the others that filled the room. Instead her face was thin and her eyes tired.

“Yes. Thank you for coming to show your respect,” she answered robotically as she readied herself for the onslaught of well-deserved but undesired condolences.

“I’m Carey Jackson, a friend… I mean I was a friend of your sister.”

The words pierced Harper’s armor and drove straight to her heart. The tears stung her tired eyes. She could only nod, or any control she had would be lost.

Carey dropped her hand from Harper’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to have to do this to you, but your sister was my landlord and, well, she promised she would help me. She owed me a favor. And now I don’t have anyone to turn to, except you.” (Continued)

Blurb: A curse that forbids her to love…A child that he must accept… And a battle that could get them killed…

After the death of his troubled ex-wife, the professional poker player, Chance Landon, finds out he is the father of a strange girl who carries even stranger secrets.

Swan-shifting nymph, Harper Cygnini, is a driven by the need to succeed in her professional life. When she meets Chance and his daughter, it becomes only too clear that there are things missing in her life—feelings and needs laid dormant after the mistakes of her past.

When Chance makes a choice that puts them all in danger, Harper must choose between her job and her heart. Chance may be the gambler, but should she risk making the same mistakes and pinning her hopes on a future that may cost Chance his life and his daughter—or is that one bet she is unwilling to take?

Come join ‘we happy few, we band of sisters’ in celebrating our first year as published authors under the Crimson Romance banner. What sets us apart from other romance writers? The diversity of story, the quality of writing and the amazingly original concepts of our writers are unlike any found in usual formula romance. We are unique, as people, as storytellers, as women. So Blog Hop with us, share a comment, sign up to win free book giveaways and prizes, follow the original round-robin story from chapter to chapter and read excerpts from books that capture the imagination, scratch your itch for a really good love story and take you on journeys of the heart and soul. We’ll have a Blog Hopping Blast together!

Spotlight Book:

Montana Mustangs

Chapter 11 (Right before the LOVE scene :} )

Chapter Eleven

The sun slipped over the horizon, casting long shadows over the ravines and valleys that rested around the mountain. The blades of the helicopter chopped through the air as the EMTs loaded Ryan onto a stretcher and into the bird.

One of the male life-flight nurses turned to Dane. “You sure you don’t want a ride out? We can send someone for the horses.”

Dane shook his head. Aura had been adamant about staying with the horses and getting them down the mountain and back to some level of safety.

“Hell of a day you picked to come up on the mountain. Didn’t you hear there’s another storm coming in?” The man looked at him like he’d lost his mind.

Hell, maybe he had lost his mind. He’d spent his day on the frigid peak of a mountain, looking for a woman that was more than likely dead. The shit he did in the name of a good looking woman…What was wrong with him?

Aura was sitting on a stump away from the chopper’s wash; she slumped down and kept glancing over, almost as if she was afraid of the helicopter. A woman was looking at her arm. The EMT shrugged as if she too was just as confused with the state of the new wound. Aura smiled and pulled her arm back and shoved her tattered coat’s sleeve down. His officer senses kicked into high gear. Something about her was just wrong.

“Did you hear me?” the EMT yelled.

He shook his head and looked back to the man standing at his side. “What?”

“You and your friend need to get off the mountain as soon as possible. They’re giving a winter storm warning. I bet this place will get three feet of fresh snow by morning.”

Any goddamned evidence that hid under the snow would be hidden until the spring now. Their odds of finding a trace of Natalie up here was as likely as his brother deciding to not be an asshole—which wasn’t ever going to happen.

“We’ll get down the mountain as soon as we can.”

The pilot pointed toward the horizon where the sun had disappeared, but a thin line of light still permeated the evening. “You sure you can get out in the dark? I don’t want to be back up tomorrow on a recovery mission where we try to find your bodies.”

The man was right, it would be precarious heading back down the steep mountain trail in the dark, but he had a flashlight and blankets if they were forced to stop. He was a Montanan and a former Boy Scout—he didn’t go anywhere unprepared.

“We’ll be careful packing out. If we aren’t out by mid-day tomorrow send in the cavalry.”

The man smiled. “Will do.” He motioned for the other nurse.

Dane walked over to Aura and put his hand on her shoulder. “You okay? You sure you don’t want to ride out with them? I can get the horses out on my own, you know.”

She glanced over at the helicopter. “There’s no way I’m getting on that damned thing. At least not while I’m alive.”

If they didn’t get out before the storm broke it was possible that she would be getting the ride she didn’t want. They needed to get moving…

To See Other Crimson Romance Titles Taking Part in the hop, you can find the master list on Denyse Cohen’s Blog!

One lucky commenter will be the winner of a Montana themed package. To Take Part, please leave a comment or question below! Good Luck!

I’m so pleased to announce that Montana Mustangs (the second book in the Nymph Series after The Nymph’s Labyrinth) is now available for pre-order. I would love for you to check it out. Early reviews are starting to come in and as of today all are 5 star reviews!!(This is almost unheard of!) I can’t wait for you to get your hands on this book. You will love it!

Book Description:

A Nymph. A woman with the ability to seduce at will, shift to protect, but cursed with the fate to have the man she falls in love with die a tragic death. As one of the ill-fated nymphs, Aura Montgarten has spent her lifetime drifting from one place to another hiding from love. Until she meets Dane.

When a body washes up on the shore of a rural Montana lake, police officer Dane Burke is faced with the task of finding the killer—even if it means he will be forced to put his life and heart at risk by working with a drifter. As the truth of Aura’s Mustang-shifting Nymph ways are revealed, Dane learns exactly the amount of danger he and Aura are in, but can’t force himself to leave a case unsolved when the truth is right outside of his grasp.

When the killer decides he needs to take another victim—Dane—Aura must choose between their forbidden love and her immortal life… Can there be life without love, or is death her only choice?

Book Excerpt:

Chapter One

The waves of the lake crashed next to Dane Burke like greedy reporters descending onto a crime scene. Dane picked up the severed hand, careful to touch it only with the tips of his gloved fingers, all in an attempt to save what little evidence remained.

The fingers were wrinkled and pale, the color of rotting fish. The skin of the palm flapped back, exposing the white lines of the tendons and the bloated pink muscles of the victim’s hand. He pushed back the skin, covering the hand’s viscera. The flesh was rubbed raw in several places, but whether it was from the time in the water or something else Dane couldn’t be sure.

Behind him, the secondary officer, Grant, talked with the woman who’d phoned in the find. The woman was blonde, thin, and uncomfortably beautiful.

“So, Aura, are you in Montana for business or pleasure?” Officer Grant asked, with just a little too much glee in his voice.

Dane tried to ignore the amateurish come-ons the officer threw at the blonde with the large blue eyes and plump lips that pulsed with the pink hues of life.

He turned the gruesome hand over in his. The fingernails of the victim were painted a vivid red, now brighter than the blood that had settled in the person’s flesh. He snickered quietly as he thought about the stark difference between the woman behind him who was the embodiment of life and the macabre sloughing object of death he stared upon.

Maybe the kid wasn’t so wrong for focusing on the woman. If he’d been just a few years younger, maybe he would have been acting that way too—focusing on the beauty of the woman instead of the gore of the job. But he’d long since given up on the things in life that only brought bitterness—death was easier to handle…

About Danica Winters

Danica Winters is a bestselling author who is known for writing award-winning books that grip readers with their ability to drive emotion through suspense and often a touch of magic. When she’s not working she can be found in the wilds of Montana working on her patience while she tries to understand the allure of various crafts (quilting, pottery and painting are not her thing). She always believe the cup is neither half full nor half empty, but it better be filled with wine.